Japanese

I have one black tailed white roo and he is so amazing. He will not forget the bigger sized chickens as his flock even though he has some more bantams with him. He holds himself proudly and never misses out a chance to help "his" flock, he has always called when there is food and been an active lookout. He is also very friendly. I have gotten him to the point where when I walk by, he is at the edge of the fence where I am. Although he isn't cuddly. He is an amazing rooster that puts many others I have seen to shame, despite his small size.

I have two Japanese hens raising chicks together since they wouldn't let me separate themThey are decent mothers, but one of them would peck at the chicks until she got used to them. I had another hen that was broody, and my japanese hen killed one of her chicks. They aren't an outstanding breed so I definitely wouldn't get again.

This bird is one of the few breeds that can capture the attention of anyone that walks by it. This breed has extremely short legs (a quality bird's leg is about the average length of a thumb, really nice ones are half that). Its squirrel tail is incredibly beautiful (especially on the roosters, which have extremely long sickles). The tail also fans out and stands upright forming a 'V' with its head, unlike other breeds, which really shows off its sleek feathers. Another key feature is that this breed's wings actually stand nearly vertically when relaxed, allowing the primaries to cover the legs and drag on the ground. This breed also has a large comb on the rooster, and large eyes (prone to frost bite and dryness if your not careful). The overall physique of this bird is extremely unique, and makes this bird incredibly beautiful to look at.

Japanese bantams also come in a variety of colors; black, white, black tailed white, black tailed buff, brown red, mottled, wheaten, and my personal favorite (and the variety I raise) the gray. The most commonly found colors are white, black, and black tailed white. The gray looks very similar to birchen.

Personality wise, these birds reign supreme. I have yet to meet a rooster sweeter than the ones the Japanese throw, and each bird is extremely affectionate. All my Japanese love to be held, and love baths. Honestly, their personalities are such a joy to interact with, and they are always excited to see you.

These are by far my favorite breed of bird, and one of the key reasons I'm so involved with poultry (and showing poultry).

As much as I truly, truly love this breed of bird, there are some cons to owning them.

They are difficult to keep in condition (especially with shows in mind.) Their wing feathers become shredded and covered with whatever is left on the ground when they aren't given routine baths and soft bedding. Their tall tail feathers also are prone to crimping (mostly the roosters), and the long sickles are easily snapped off. If you keep the hens and roosters together, this becomes even more of a problem.

Another con is that this breed produces lethal genes, from their short legs. This means that when you breed two short legged Japanese, 25% of the eggs will develop, but will die days before they're supposed to hatch. However, I personally have not had an issue with breeding my bantams in terms of the lethal gene.

This breed is technically an oriental breed, so don't get this breed expecting to get a huge egg producer. They lay eggs 2-3 times a week, and go through resting periods during the winter. Their eggs are smaller than the average bantam egg.


Overall, this breed is such a treat to own, despite the difficulties in maintaining it. I also want to mention the hens go broody fairly often. It's best to avoid hatchery Japanese chicks, as I guarantee from personal experience they won't look how you're expecting. They have pinched tails, and poor coloration. They also tend to be taller than they really should be, also known as "leggy". This is also a "true bantam" breed, meaning there isn't a larger version of it. Also note that there is no such thing as a "fan" tail variety of this breed. I have met people who have shown this, thinking that this is an accepted form of tail. Its not, and is actually just a pinched tail (a fault).

I recommend this breed to anyone looking for a unique bantam that has a great personality. It's fun to show, and beautiful to look at (and it will get you a lot of attention.) It's great for the hobbiest, the 4H project, and for the serious breeder. Just an awesome breed.

My Japanese Bantam died today. Raccoons got her. She was one of a flock of 14. (Since then three have died.) I had gotten the flock when my family moved into a new house, and the old owners were moving somewhere where they couldn't keep chickens. So I took the flock under my care. All of them have weird gnarled feet, and are unhandleable. Kuniko, the only bantam since the old rooster died, was very difficult to catch, but when I did she was the sweetest thing. She stood up for herself, and didn't let any other hen bully her, and was quite high in the social hierarchy. She was a favorite to guests and my toddler sister, who all thought she was both beautiful and cute. She had very large wings and was flighty, which is a problem for some people, though I thought it was fun to watch her fly. I definitely recommend this breed.

My Jap, Yuki, I got from a friend a year or so ago. She is 4-5 years old I was told, so I am not sure on eggs. She is small and cute, and the noises are funny as well. She gets picked on a lot, but still gets a long with my layers.

A nice chicken to add to a small bantam flock.

Japanese bantams, as you may have guessed, come from Japan. However, the breed has been tracked to originate from Southeast Asia, coming from the traders of the area. Japanese bantams have been bred for centuries in Japan. They are best known for their small size and very short legs.
I raise Japanese bantams and they are wonderful. I only have two Japanese rooster now, which I planned to get rid of, but they are so sweet. They aren't the friendliest birds, but they are tame when you hold them. Japanese bantams are great show birds, as they are easy to handle. However, their genetic problems narrow their chances of becoming show winners. What are there genetic problems? They carry a lethal allele (the short-legged gene) that kills 25% of incubating chicks at day 20 (a day before they hatch). Because of this, they are difficult to breed and hatch. Also, breeders have been known to breed from poor stock, resulting in possible disqualifications and defects in a show, as an APA judge told me. I thought I'd also mention, they are fragile when they are young, so, if shipped, some chicks may come dead or die a few days after they come.

I use to have a pair of buff Japanese bantams, but the hen died from a feral cat. My rooster though is the sweetest roo I have ever had the privilege of owning. He has NEVER bit anybody or attack anybody. He loves to be hand fed, and when my aggressive rooster Apollo attacks me, Mars (my Japanese roo) attacks him back and chases him away from me! I have never seen anything like it before! I highly recommended this breed for pets. The roosters are unfortunateley not great show chickens because their tail feathers are hard to keep in good condition. Mars went to the fair last year and took second in his class because his tail feathers were not in good condition. He is retired now and loves hanging out with kids!

They don't lay much and of course aren't any good for meat. But they are great pets for children of all ages. Never had an aggressive one. Very friendly and docile birds. I'm definitely going to get more of them in the future.

We hatched our jap bantam last year, getting a mixed dozen of eggs to hatch.

I absolutely love our jap, Cadbury. he is so sweet and fun to be around. He is easy for kids to handle and small.
One thing I am scared about this winter is whenther or not he will survive. every time I o out the tips of his comb and ends of his wattles are a brownish black.

He is a sewwt bird and is easy to take care of. I definitely recommend this breed for shows, 4h, or as pets, being a wonderful addition to the yard to give it a classy ornamental look.

I have six Japanese Bantams. Five hens and one rooster. Grace, Zoey, Lemon, DeLacey, and DeLaney are the hens, and George Tucker is my rooster. They make up about 1/5 of my chickens. I have all bantams and really havent ever had a bantam like these guys. They are sweet and talkative, very flighty and fly out and often stay out all day. George is very protective of all his hens and chased and attacked a stray cat the other day that just glanced at the chicken house. They are calm and beautiful birds and definetley all add color and personality to my flock.

I have a trio of White Black Tailed Japanese Bantams, they are so beautiful and sweet. Japanese Bantams are what they call true bantams and what that means is there is not a larger version of them nor will there ever be. Japanese Bantams come in a range of colors including Mottled, Black, White Black Tailed, Black White Tailed, Buff and so many more . Japanese Bantams don't go broody much but they do make good mothers, Hope It Helped!!!

Excellent bantam that is much under-appreciated in the USA. Can come in many colors but usually just found in a few. Has a wonderful breed club called the JBBA (Japanese Bantam Breeders Association) that supports the breed, has lists of breeders whom you can buy them from, sponsors shows, and is generally very helpful. The baby chicks are adorable, with their short little legs. They are easy on your lawn because their legs are too short to tear up your grass.

I had a male and female! Coon got em'! Probably the most tame and calmest birds!

started with 2 but lost a hen. : (
now all I have i a roo who is sooo sweet!!!!
although he is a tad voal, he's not very loud, almost like he's trying to be loud and can't make it hppen. couls be because he's only 2 lbs.

I love these birds due to the fact that they are smaller and that they are such pretty birds. They are pretty quiet and love to eat.

Last year, on halloween we rescued 1 black jap., 1 splash dutch, and 1 blue light brown dutch. They were all showbirds,and placed well in their catagories. They were going to be killed, so we got them.Our japaneese wasn;t very healthy looking, and alwayslooed tired. But she was very small, and I loved seeing her run up/down the hill and waddle!

Bonsai is a pretty awesome little Black Japanese Bantam Roo with his little sawed off legs and mighty attitude. We got him at 10 weeks old and put him in with our 8 week old ladies. He made his presence known but has never tried to harm any of the ladies. He seems to be able to round them up pretty well and they have a degree of respect for him. Although I do see the ladies [literally] walk over him as if he isn't there... it is kinda funny.

He was beginning to crow when we got him, he isn't overly loud and doesn't crow at all hours of the night. I wouldn't mind getting some little Japanese Bantam Hens
Bonsai looking over the ladies

Probably my favorite breed of chickens. I got one at a sale not knowing what it was. But soon as I found out what it was. I had to have more. Sadly the first one I had passed away. But I got more from a breeder, older chicks. I LOVE THEM. I love the Black Tailed White Japanese, the grey, and the mottled.

I love my japanese! She (I think it's a she) is very sweet, all white and fairly calm. I think she has short legs, so am going to show her!
They come in tons of colors, too, and are quite small.

This is my favorite breed of bantam!

Edit: Never mind, long legs! Mine used to lay eggs every day, but hasn't laid now for months...She is REALLY tiny (like serama tiny) but is tough. She is tough to catch but calms down quickly. All in all a sweet, quiet girl!

I have never had these but thought I would write about my experience anyway. My neighbor has a flock and they are the cutest little things! They look so pretty wandering about in her very nicely landscaped yard, just like "lawn ornaments," adorable really.

I have heard that hers do go broody quite often, and at least one of the hens has successfully raised offspring. She tells me they lay many tiny eggs for her.

She might be selling off her flock, and while I considered adding to mine, their very small size is too much of a vulnerability for me. The majority of my chickens are LF (mixed breeds, but all living together) and I have dogs and cats too.